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Related Experiment Videos

Explaining variation in general practitioner referrals to hospital.

D Wilkin1, A Smith

  • 1Department of General Practice, University of Manchester, Rusholme Health Centre, England.

Family Practice
|September 1, 1987
PubMed
Summary

General practitioner referral rates vary widely, with studies often overlooking patient and doctor factors. Understanding the referral decision-making process is key to explaining these variations.

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Area of Science:

  • Primary Care
  • Health Services Research
  • Clinical Decision-Making

Background:

  • Referral rates by general practitioners (GPs) to hospitals show significant variation, ranging from under 1% to over 20% of consultations.
  • Existing research on these referral variations in the UK has limitations in accounting for patient and physician characteristics.
  • A critical gap exists in differentiating between referral types and their underlying reasons, hindering comprehensive analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review existing research on variations in GP referral rates in the UK.
  • To identify the limitations of previous studies in explaining these variations.
  • To propose a theoretical model to guide future research on the GP referral decision-making process.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of studies investigating GP referral variations.

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  • Critical analysis of methodologies used in prior research.
  • Development of a theoretical model for the referral decision process.

    • Main Results:

    • Previous studies inadequately explain referral rate variations due to a lack of differentiation between referral types and reasons.
    • Failure to account for patient demographics and physician/practice characteristics limits understanding.
    • A need for a structured approach to analyze the complex decision-making stages is identified.

    Conclusions:

    • Explaining variations in GP referrals requires distinguishing between different types and reasons for referral.
    • A theoretical model is proposed to provide a framework for future research.
    • Further investigation into the stages of the referral decision-making process is necessary to understand practice variations.